Zenyatta (19-0) rallies to win the Lady’s Secret

Zenyatta ran her lifetime mark to 19-0 Saturday when she used her typical late kick to run down four rivals in the Lady’s Secret Grade 1 stakes at Oak Tree at Hollywood Park.

After the race, owner Jerry Moss said the 6-year-old mare will make her next start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic if she comes of the race with no issues.

Zenyatta, who was 1-9 on the tote board throughout the wagering, sat about eight lengths behind early leader Moon de French before rider Mike Smith asked her to pick it up a little coming into the turn. Zenyatta came with powerful strides in the last 16th of a mile to get up late over 4-1 second choice Switch.

“I always thought she’d get there,” owner Jerry Moss said of his mare, who closed powerfully to win her last start by a neck at 1-10 odds in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch at Del Mar. “And she got there beautifully.”

There was no show betting after a late scratch reduced the field to five, but Zenyatta attracted more than $600,000 in the place pool. Switch finished second.

Within the past few months I predicted that Quality Road would lose the Whitney as the odds on favorite. I then said both Rachel Alexandra and Life At Ten would not win the Personal Ensign.
Then I said that Rachel Alexandra would be retired shortly.
And finally, I said that Zenyatta would have a huge, huge win the Classic.
On at day that Blame loses big time and Blind Luck loses, and on a week that Rachel Alexandra is retired, Zenyatta continues to do what comes so naturally to her. She wins. Whether is Switch, Rinterval or St. Trinians she just wins. Carrying the weight of the racing world on her shoulders doesn’t matter – she just wins. Doesn’t matter the legions of her detractors foaming at the mouth for her defeat she still wins.
Zenyatta goes beyond anything I’ve ever seen from a racehorse. That is her brilliant consistency.
May you go and win the Classic and enter into horseracing immortality.

The late scratch was Rinterval. ESPN reports the owner as saying unruly fans spooked her by waving posters menacingly. This has been picked up by a few other blogs by haters and who suggest folks were screaming at Rinvterval too. What a bunch of jerks those Z-fanatics… if only it were true.

I was camped out in the paddock by the saddling sheds 2 races prior (missed J.P.Gusto’s try at 1-1/16!). So I was _directly_ in front of Rinterval and Z was 2 stalls away when this happened. Folks were 3-4 deep there, snapping pictures, etc. Believe me, there was no waving, menacing, or screaming going on.

Rinterval was standing in her stall, got spooked, flipped, crashed into the wall and cut herself on her rear left knee. As she was bleeding, the track vet had no choice but to scratch. Folks 100yds away later told me they heard the ruckus and wondered what was going on.

To blame this on Z’s connections or fans is ridiculous. If anything, Z was spooked as she stood quietly with her head in the rear corner of the stall for at least 5-10 minutes with Mario and Mr. Shirreffs calming her down. I mean it was really LOUD.

My guess is Rinterval had never seen such a big crowd. E.g. the saddling shed at Del Mar is off-limits so she wouldn’t have seen that many people up close.

Rinterval got up fine btw, shaking a bit, obviously spooked. I saw James Cassidy a few races earlier expertly handling his 2yo who reared up not once but 3x in his stall. I guess we should blame that on the Z-fanatics too, eh?

I can’t believe that this incredible ride we’ve had on Zenyatta will end soon. I also can’t believe that her detractors are still finding ways to criticize her. Any fan of horse racing should be thrilled at the attention she’s brought back to the sport. Penny Chenery was there on Saturday, does that say something?
Mr Beyer, horses are not machines that will fit into your equation. Your constant belittling of Zen and her record is old and stale. Zen runs enough to win, that puts a monkey wrench into your little chart. BTW, it’s not the Rosetta Stone of racing, it’s merely a handicapping tool.

The real dirt and the colts are next. That will be the real test. And the only way she can make believers out of the ones who still complain about the mostly synthetic tracks in one state and mostly weak competition she has built her terrific unbeaten record on.
We will see soon enough.
It will be one of the most anticipated BC Classic’s ever.

I can’t believe there are still people {I avoid calling them fans} who continue to degrade Zenyatta. It’s her “competition”, she “barely wins”, yadda, yadda, yadda. What moran could possibly make light of a horse who has managed to win 19 straight races as a deep closer? It’s damn near an impossible feat. This horse isn’t winning by accident, coincidence, or luck. She is that good, end of story. She will win the BC and go down in history as one of the greatest thoroughbreds to ever set hooves on a track.

Naysayers are comparing Zen to the Boise State football team, which is always ranked highly, and has an undefeated record, but rarely plays anyone but pushovers like New Mexico and San Jose State. Their home field is funky blue artificial turf, the equivalent to California’s synthetic tracks. Do you buy the analogy? I thought the East Coast boys and Andy Beyer might like it.

Her competition on Saturday was a filly that beat Blind Luck. Some of you say that RA lost to horses that ran the race of their lives, yet fail to recognize the same holds true for Switch, St Trinians, and Rinterval. There are none so blind. The fact that she is undefeated despite being a late closer, despite the strategy of a slow pace, despite being floated wide and spotting her competition as much as 9 pounds just seems to fall on not only deaf ears, but deaf ears stuffed with cotton. If she loses at the BCC, so be it, she will still go down in history as one of the greats.

i saw eric reed on a espn video clip claiming that the z fans were intimidating his horse by “flipping” signs at her, so that caused her to rear up. he also said that security had informed him during the week that there was a death threat on rinterval. my question was “why not a death threat on switch, a better horse”? any witnesses at the paddock please comment on these accusations.

Eric Reed spends too much time in the grassy knoll. Video from that day doesn’t support his claim. Seems more like he isn’t taking responsibility for not being able to control his horse. She certainly isn’t the first and only horse to ever act up in the saddling area.

According to Vic Zast of horseracinginsider and Paul Moran of ESPN.com, Zenyatta has already won the Horse of the Year.
Keith, yes, Zenyatta covered the last 1/16 in 5.7 seconds which translates in going 46 mph, which is the highest recorded speed for a thoroughbred in history.

Most Zenyatta fans relish the idea of big Z taking on the best and the brightest, because we know she can beat them. We’ve been disappointed to say the least, that she hasn’t been allowed to run tougher races with stiffer competition. WHY would her fans threaten Reinterval? That sounds absolutely daft, and very hard to believe. In any case, I certainly hope it’s not true.

What I find ironic is that it is Zenyatta that will carry Rachel into immortality. Yes Rachel had one of the best 3yo filly campaigns ever, but does one good year make for immortality? Nope. Immortality in horse racing comes to very few horses, Zenyatta should she win the Breeders Cup Classic and retire undefeated will forever be remembered as the greatest race horse of our times along with Man of War and Secretariat. And who will be remembered along with Zenyatta? Rachel Alexandra of course, the horse Zenyatta never raced. The one horse millions think could have beaten Zenyatta. Ironic isn’t it that Rachel’s place in history hangs on Zenyatta winning the BCC. Even more ironic is the hoard of Rachel’s fans hoping Zenyatta loses.

I guess Rachel’s fans did not get the memo, Zenyatta is now carrying both Rachel’s and Zenyatta’s legacy into her last race at Church Hill Downs. If she wins immortality for both, if she loses no one will care if Rachel could have beaten her. Ironic isn’t it?

Congrats to Zenyatta and her connections on #19. I am sensing a mare that isn’t enjoying the racing like she has in the past(doesn’t appear her heart is really in it to me). Hopefully she can run her best with her heart in it and finish where she finishes first or last but injury free. Thats what I am wishing for THE most! Secondly it would be great for racing if she did defend her title. However its effects probably wouldn’t last too long anyway. Best of health and luck to the grand Zenyatta.

jps, RA will always be remembered for one of the most outstanding 3yo campaigns for a filly. IMO, the stress of that campaign ended her desire to win, because clearly her speed hasn’t been diminished. I feel that she was mis-managed, and that she was sacrificed at the altar of JJ’s ego.
As a side note, I wish JJ would take advantage of the fact that there are some great stallions around that may not have many more years left. The mating with Curlin can wait, one with A P Indy or Giant’s Causeway can not.

aldavis, I’m not so sure I agree with you. It seems to me that she’s relieving the boredom of easy competition by waiting til that last possible moment to win. Someone said she was going 46mph at the end of the Lady’s Secret. Seems she’s a highly intelligent horse who’s found a way to amuse herself.

Kathleen, I sure hope you are right. I can’t really explain it but I have had a bit of a sick feeling in my stomach for months. I sure hope nothing bad happens and that she is in top form…but…I don’t know. I hope I am just being a worry wart. I just want to see Zenyatta retire sound most of all. Ofcourse in my best dream I want her to run a great race and retire undefeated so I will have seen a piece of history that will most likely not happen again in my lifetime. That would be so awesome to see and have the memories. Go Zenyatta.

Win or lose, al, we will always have the great memories of seeing Zenyatta dance. I had the same sick feeling prior to the Clement Hirsch, so I know what you’re talking about. I think the stretch at CD was made for Zenyatta’s closing kick….but win or lose, just retire sound.

Kathleen:
“It seems to me that she’s relieving the boredom of easy competition by waiting til that last possible moment to win. Someone said she was going 46mph at the end of the Lady’s Secret. Seems she’s a highly intelligent horse who’s found a way to amuse herself.”

AJ, we should probably just agree to disagree. The 46mph is something I read somewhere, but won’t spend the time to look for the article. Not worth it.
And yes, Zen seems to enjoy herself out there, check out her ears when she gets to the wire. Remember which one of us lives with horses.